The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Fanfare’. ‘Fanfare’ represents a new mophead type bigleaf hydrangea, a deciduous shrub grown for landscape use and for use as a potted plant.
‘Fanfare’ was derived from an ongoing controlled breeding program in a nursery that focuses on new cultivars of bigleaf hydrangeas for container and landscape use. ‘Fanfare’ originated from a cross made in the Inventor's nursery in June 1999 in Shizuoka, Japan between an unpatented proprietary selection of Hydrangea macrophylla designated as H3-67 as the female and Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Alexsandria’ (not patented) as the male parent. The new Hydrangea was selected as a unique single plant from the progeny of the cross in March 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings by the Inventor in Shizuoka, Japan in May 2007. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.